"It is true that Pooja and I will be meeting the Pope in the Vatican. Five hundred artistes from around the world have been invited by the Pope and we are the ones from India. We will leave on Nov 19," Mahesh Bhatt told IANS.

"There is a discord between the church and the artiste community for quite some time now. The church wants to begin a process to have an intense interaction with the artist community so that both can contribute together in terms of global peace," added Bhatt, who has helmed films like "Arth", "Saaransh", "Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke" and "Zakhm", among others.